The Hardy Boys Mysteries RPG at CleriCon!

I mentioned in my last post, my main project right now is The Hardy Boys Mysteries Role Playing Game. What I didn't mention is my first public playtest is happening at CleriCon tonight!

Look! A CLUE!

We'll be playing: "The Clue in the Missing Milk." It's an adventure I ran before to positive feedback so I'm hoping it works well again tonight! I only have a five-hour drive to Glen Williams, Ontario to second-guess myself.

CleriCon is an old-school RPG Convention with a focus on B/X and BECMI D&D. There are newer games running, like Mork Borg, but I'm fairly certain I'll be running the only RPG Powered by the Apocalypse. I tried a few systems, including a few of my own creation, but they didn't fit those original Hardy Boys stories the way a custom PbtA system did.

The Hardy Boys are adventures full of silly, campy fun where the characters stumble into clues and coincidences until they can't help but solve the mystery. Mysteries are usually difficult to run well in RPGs, but The Hardy Boys are more like adventures with a mystery as a plot device. The stories are full of outrageous coincidences and the action delivers clues to the characters with more efficiency than Amazon. That's how I ended up with PbtA. The Move structure is perfect for bludgeoning the players with clues as they move through the story until they have everything they need to solve the mystery and thwart the plans of the bad guys! 

The Clue in the Missing Milk follows the Hardy Boys formula, starting with an inciting incident to bring the Sleuths into the action and connect them to the mystery. After that there is a timeline for a few things that will happen with or without their involvement, and a huge collection of clues they can uncover as they move around Bayport.

Some goodies for my players at CleriCon, including one of the
first six Hardy Boys Books, WITH a yellow-spined slipcover. 
It's all wrapped up and ready for the top Sleuth!

I tested the adventure earlier this week with a mixed group of mostly strangers with all levels of experience with RPGs from none to decades of play. The laughter did not stop and it was the most fun I had running a game in a long time! When I first conceived the idea to start this project I could not have hoped for more.

So now it is fingers crossed for tonight to see how it tests in the craziness of Con play. 

Wish me luck!